Tiny Wooden Boat
by mydearwaltson
Summary: Rapunzel is feeling alone and scared, with the pressure of being a princess, she questions herself and her reason for living in a palace. A tiny wooden boat is all she is taking with her back to the forest she once lived in. One-shot. This is based on a dream I had. I felt the need to write about it.


_Disclaimer: I own nothing._

_This story is based on a short dream I had last night, I felt the need to write about it and it sort of took off from there._

_Also, in my dream, Rapunzel could fly (kind of like Peter Pan) that's why she's hovering in the first bit. I know, my dreams are pretty cool._

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Her short brown hair flew in the wind as she clutched the tiny wooden boat in her fingers. The passing scene around her was mostly water, with land and trees dotting the horizon. The gravel, bridge-like road beneath her was leading her back to the forest she once traveled in.

She hovered off the ground, so close to it yet hardly touching the dirt below. Hovering was so easy now that she had gotten used to sitting at the same time. Her legs stretched out in front of her and her back sat straight up, it was almost as if she wasn't the one moving, it was the whole world that was moving underneath her. Slowly she was making her way to the end of the strange, long bridge.

She fingered the small vessel in her hands and looked over it morosely. It was a trinket she had gotten at the market. _He_ had gotten it for her. She cringed at the thought. Her heart ached and her head was spinning. The boat looked much like the one they had both ridden the night of the lantern festival, only now, it was about as big as the palm of her hand. In the bottom of the boat, she knew, there was a small compartment containing two tiny figures, a boy and a girl, both were made out of wood but expertly crafted. She couldn't bring herself to take them out, even at the particularly slow pace she was going, for fear of dropping _hi_—one.

She sighed and decided to move a little faster. The quicker she was out, the easier it would be to forget.

Suddenly she was in the arms of someone far too familiar. She felt herself thrown onto the ground, but he was there to block it from her. A yelp escaped her lips and she struggled to right herself from the impact. Once the disturbed dust and debris had disappeared, she got a better look at her position. There he was beneath her staring with longing and worrying eyes. He was full on the ground while she lay in his arms on his chest. A whimper came out and she tried to fight to get out of his grasp. Her attempts were in vain, she knew that she could never get out of them. Still in his clutches, he righted himself and placed her on his lap while they sat in the middle of the road. He was cautious to not touch her much further after that but he couldn't help but bury his face in her neck. All the cautiousness melted away as quickly as it had come and his arms pulled her close.

But she didn't dare move. The boat stayed in her hand, threatening to be crushed under the pressure of her clenched fingers. He pulled away, sensing her tense reaction and grabbed her hand confidently. He brushed her whitened knuckles with his own and her fingers opened to release the figurine in her palm. His forehead pressed against hers and she shuttered under his touch but didn't object. Why was he even here? Did he want her back? The whole kingdom probably did, but everyone knew that he was the only one that could convince her to come home. Her empty expression turned to a frown, she couldn't go back, not after she had made a complete fool of herself.

He took the boat and emptied its contents into her hand. The boy and the girl fell out and rested beside each other. They stared at them for a moment before he finally spoke, "Where do they go?" He held the boat upright in front of her. She didn't look into his eyes, her gaze remained fixed in the boat but she didn't move, "Hm?" He prodded her to answer his question. Her other arm lifted up and she carefully placed the girl at one end of the boat and she hesitated before placing the boy at the other end, far away from her.

She could feel him frowning and he blurted out in the silence, "Wrong."

He took her hand and put the boat in it for her to hold up for him. She obeyed and watched his moving hands with sad eyes.

He took the boy from the edge of the boat and placed him right next to the girl. She couldn't fight the tear that sprung in her eye. It rolled silently down her cheek and fell onto her outstretched arm. He saw the tear fall and his hand instantly went up and wiped away the wet trail it left on her face. His hand lingered there and she could feel herself unconsciously gravitating toward his caressing touch. She wanted more than anything to stay, but there were too many things to worry about. Too much pressure. Being a princess was both a burden and a privilege, one mistake and you'd be ridiculed forever. It was a conclusion she had come to after much thought.

Her fiancé gently tilted her head upward so that she would look at him. Her eyes were red from the tears she was holding in. He moved his hand from her cheek and nudged her chin up with one move of his finger and met his lips to hers. His hand traveled to the back of her neck but her hands went down to her lap.

She felt so vulnerable. As if with one wrong movement she would collapse. She could feel herself slowly falling apart in his presence but she allowed the kiss, she welcomed it actually. She found that it was something that she had been wanting in the back of her mind. He read her like no one else could. Not even her. To him, her mind was an open book.

He pulled away, "I'm right here."

It was all he had to say and she shattered like glass. Her head buried itself in his chest. Her fingers clutched at his vest, letting go of the boat. His arms encased her again and she cried, "It's like I'm Humpty Dumpty."

He remembered reading her the story, "I'm here to put you back together again."

She smiled in the midst of her sobbing, then added, "But—but all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't Humpty together again."

He chuckled, "I'll go to the ends of the earth to put you back together or my real name is Flynn Rider." He joked good-naturedly. His name wasn't Flynn, therefore the only other option was putting her back together. She threw her arms around his neck and they sat there a while, holding each other and not daring to break the barrier between them and the rest of the world.

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_I know this is a bit darker than what I usually write but I enjoyed it, I hope you did too!_


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